Turntable light sequencer

[Benjamin] built a sequencer that uses a turntable and light sensors to lay down a funky beat. If you like creepy videos with repeated gratuitous corderoy-clad rear-ends we’ve got you covered after the break. Art film aside, he’s got an interesting project. Four light sensors are mounted below the turning record with LEDs hovering above. His hatred for old LP records is apparent because holes must be drilled in a disc for the light to shine through. The four notes in the sequence can be altered in voice and color, along with controls for motor speed and direction. The project also has four manual inputs to add some variety to the repetitive beat sequence. It’s a bit less practical than the penny sequencer but fun none-the-less.

Seriously… I was expecting the thing to trigger preset sounds. Would have been sweet to interface this to a sid chip or something. Like, a hole triggers a note, the length of the hole determines the length of the note, and the different sensors could be for the different voices.

And to think he drilled up one of the three known copies of Bob Dylan’s Freewheelin’ first pressing to (badly) reinvent the music box. I get the feeling that epileptics would have seizures around that and at the risk of being a hater I didn’t see any sequencing, just amplification of noise generated by a photocell.

I think this is amazing and a piece of art that works. It’s not supposed to be as useful as a sequencer or trigger samples, that would defeat the analog nature of the whole piece. It’s a new idea that could work with really old technology, that’s why it fit so well with the Moogerfooger pedal and all the corduroy. Like steam punk but 1969. Not all musical instruments are supposed to make techno to blast in your decal-covered fartcan honda civics, don’t you people have any culture? I know that sounded mean, and I like hondas, but seriously this guy made a cool funny deal and if it was in an art gallery or in a museum as an actual vintage device you probably would think it was pretty cool.

I am the true controversial filmmaker that created what is considered (possibly by someone from another time) to be a masterpiece. I understand some of you may be mystified by the hollywood magic utilized by the supreme wizardry of my all powerful mind. If any of you, eager to learn my secret techniques in order to obtain immortality, would like to seek solace and counsel from a leading controversial filmmaking authority, please feel free to post a detailed inquiry. I prefer comments that would stimulate my grandeur.